View full sizeColorado and Portland have had quite a history in their three seasons in MLS play with the home team usually coming out on top of their matchups. However, Portland has improved their road fortunes quite a bit while Colorado is still sorting out their team after playing just one match under their new coach, Pablo Mastroeni.Kip Kesgard, community blogger

Being
a Timbers fan since 2001 and moving to cover the team for Oregonlive.com since
2009, I have heard numerous stories from Portland Timbers players about their
love of playing at home. Regardless of
the local venue, they always rave about the wonderful cacophony of noise and
various visual displays shown in support of the home team. As anyone realizes though, being at home
comes with plenty of other distractions, welcome or otherwise as we all live
our day to day lives. Just because the
Timbers are professional athletes, they still have to deal with the daily ups
and downs that affect all of us. That is
why going on the road can sometimes be a needed distraction and diversion, as
it can bring more focus and purpose especially if you have a team component
that is struggling. For the Timbers,
finishing their goal scoring chances remains a work in progress and they'll get
their next chance for success when they travel to Denver, Colorado for
their first of three meetings with the Colorado Rapids on March 22.

One
of the biggest progressions in the evolution of the Timbers under Coach Caleb
Porter has been their road performance in MLS.
For the first two seasons, the Timbers were fairly dreadful in securing
results away from the Rose City – the 2012 team won just once away in the final
road match of the year. 2013 saw them
make dramatic strides to improve their approach and the results brought forth
more points – 2011: 2 wins & 6 draws for 12 points; 2012: 1 win & 4
draws for 7 points; 2013: 3 wins & 10 draws for 19 points. The performance and attitude also appeared
dramatically different in 2013 as many of those road points were earned after
the Timbers had fallen behind or were affected by a momentum changing play that
forced them to respond. While previous
versions of the club might have lacked mental fortitude, the 2013 Timbers made
it abundantly clear they wouldn't be run off the pitch in any venue with one
notable exception – Rio Tinto Stadium.
However, that had more to do with the associated club than anything
else, and even in the losses in Utah, Portland enjoyed long stretches of
wonderful play that allowed them to build some confidence.

Portland
does enter this weekend's match with a few questions regarding player
availability. Midfielder Kalif Alhassan
remains questionable due to the groin strain suffered versus Philadelphia, but
center back Pa Modou Kah has returned to training after his leg knock that kept
him out of the Chicago match. Word
surfaced that fellow
center back Norberto Paparatto is also dealing with a groin strain, so his
availability could be a match time decision, so the team could be looking at
another new combination at center back – Kah, if available and Futty Danso or
Danso and Rauwshan McKenzie. Kah and
Danso played together for the final six regular season matches in 2013 plus the
playoff run, and were exceptional in their teamwork as the "Great Wall of
Gambia" while McKenzie started one match in 2013 and has several appearances
with other clubs in his MLS career. The
Timbers defense in the run of play has been stellar despite the change in
personnel, as their two goals conceded this year have been on a set piece and
converted penalty kick.

View full sizeDick's Sporting Goods Park and the Denver area remain a favorite travel destination for Timbers fans. Over 400 fans made the initial trip back in 2011 when the Timbers started their MLS history, and they are expecting another large size crowd to have made the trip to the Rocky Mountains.Thomas Boyd, The Oregonian

I
think the increased scrutiny has to do with amplified expectations from the
players and fans, especially after the Timbers brought in Fernandez and
Paparatto, two high profile signings.
The general thought shared by many was that the Timbers didn't need to
change much from the team that finished at the top of the Western Conference
table last year, but they have added several wrinkles in the hopes to stay
ahead of their compatriots. I personally
feel that once the attackers figure out the tendencies and iron out the kinks in
the process, the offense should be amazing to witness. The process takes times, and competence wasn't
cemented by any team in a matter of two matches. I'm sure that Porter is also hopeful he can
get his center backs healthy to avoid making such dramatic changes in
personnel, but as we mentioned in the Chicago preview, getting
injuries out of the way early in the year is more beneficial than dealing with
them during a playoff push.

While
Colorado has been anything but a pushover when hosting Portland in MLS play – 1
draw and 3 losses in 4 matches with 3 goals scored for Portland to 11 yielded –
this is a Rapids team that has undergone a dramatic transformation from the
club that finished 2013 with the fifth and final playoff spot in the West. After falling out in the playoff round, the
hope was the core of the club would be able to gel and make a repeat run in
2014 but the organization dealt with the circus surrounding their coach at the
time, Oscar Pareja. When Schellas
Hyndman stepped down during the 2013 season, FCD turned their attention to
Pareja for their coaching job during the offseason. Pareja had spent most of his MLS career in
Dallas while also being a long time assistant before getting the coaching job
in Denver, so there was plenty of allure to the job despite still being under
contract with the Rapids. After initially
declining the offer, Pareja,
FC Dallas and Colorado worked out a deal to allow him to leave Colorado for FC
Dallas on January 10 just days before the 2014 MLS Super Draft.

View full sizeTimbers midfielder Gaston Fernandez has the only goals scored for Portland this season, as he's been a true find because of his creativity. With the conditions expected to be cold and wintry, the Timbers will need to find a way to move the ball about and take advantage of their movement under the circumstances.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

The
Rapids didn't hire their new coach until mere days before the 2014 season, but
he was a very familiar name to soccer fans in the Mile High City – Pablo Mastroeni. After playing for several seasons in midfield
for the Rapids, he was traded midseason in 2013 to Los Angeles before he hung
up his boots to take a special assistant's job with Colorado after the
playoffs. Little did he know that he
would become the next head coach when Rapids Technical Paul Bravo made him
interim coach after Pareja's departure and took away the interim title before
their home opener versus New York.
Colorado has an intriguing mix of talent from DeShorn Brown, Dillon
Serna, Dillon Powers, Drew Moor and Marvell Wynne, they've also had to deal
with significant injuries. In the first
match of 2013, Matt Pickens suffered a season ending injury that forced the
team to bring in unheralded goalkeeper Clint Irwin, and Irwin ended up being a
big reason for their success. Irwin,
however, was injured in pre-season and the team had to use untested John Berner
in goal versus the Red Bulls. While
Irwin is not expected back, Powers will be available after suffering a
laceration when he collided with a Red Bulls player. There
was concern that Powers might be dealing with a concussion, but medical staff
indicates there is no recurrence of symptoms after Powers took a knock to the
head that kept him from several matches in late 2013.